Hi there. August. How again did it get to be August? And Evil Twin, if you dare mention anything about days left until the C holiday, I will scream.
This is my new friend. I found her/him mewing near the sidewalk next to a heavily-wooded area(do you say wooded when it's all underbrush and shrubs?) a couple weeks ago (arggh I need to stop procrastinating this - has it been so long?), right before I left on a business trip to Portland.
Here's a better picture.
He's gotten enough used to me that he'll eat within a couple feet from me, as long as I'm not moving and he's hungry enough.
And then last week someone who appears to be Mama made an appearance. She is long-haired, black-furred, and green-eyed just like the kitten.
And then today, who should show up but Papa. He has short hair, but also black fur and green eyes.
What the hell am I going to do?
The kitten, if not too feral, might be able to get into a kitten adoption/fostering program. SPCA of San Francisco's policy is catch, cut off them gonads, and release. They don't rehabilitate or euthanize feral cats. Which is nice for the cats, hell on the songbirds, but also probably helps keep the city rodent population down.
I have been advised to go pick up a kitten & cat trap (ok, make that 2 now) from the SPCA, who will catch, spay/neuter, then give them back to me to release. If feels like the meanest betrayal to do that to the kitten. I'm fairly sure he won't be a problem, as he comes right up to the food. The adults will likely be harder.
Some days it feels like the only good thing I'm doing in the day is feeding that kitten. Been kinda a rough few months, mentally.
We're moving, beginning of September. I still have too much crap. Even AFTER Massive Crap Cleanout #1. At least it is only cross town this time, not a 13 hour drive. I really need to ditch one of my hobbies.
2 comments:
Yeah, that trap-neuter-release thing is problematic. We have a zealot in our county who is raising hell with the humane society because they only retain adoptable pets -- no major health problems and socialized. Those who fail the adoptability test get euthanized. It would be nice to be able to work with every animal enough to make it adoptable, but there are not enough hours in the day/week/month.
Moi? i would never do such a thing. /scandalized Actually the t-n-r is okay - the cats keep pests down (alas for the songbirds but I have to think they are faster most of the time) and since they are territorial, a fixed feral cat in the neighborhood keeps most other (nonfixed) cats away. It is also possible (though just a guess) that they would be less inclined to chase birds if you keep feeding them.
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